Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Dev Sci. 2022 Sep;25(5):e13205. doi: 10.1111/desc.13205. Epub 2021 Dec 15.
Children show marked improvements in executive functioning (EF) between 4 and 7 years of age. In many societies, this time period coincides with the start of formal school education, in which children are required to follow rules in a structured environment, drawing heavily on EF processes such as inhibitory control. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal development of two aspects of inhibitory control, namely response inhibition and response monitoring and their neural correlates. Specifically, we examined how their longitudinal development may differ by schooling experience, and their potential significance in predicting academic outcomes. Longitudinal data were collected in two groups of children at their homes. At T1, all children were roughly 4.5 years of age and neither group had attended formal schooling. One year later at T2, one group (P1, n = 40) had completed one full year of schooling while the other group (KG, n = 40) had stayed in kindergarten. Behavioural and brain activation data (measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) in response to a Go/No-Go task and measures of academic achievement were collected. We found that P1 children, compared to KG children, showed a greater change over time in activation related to response monitoring in the bilateral frontal cortex. The change in left frontal activation difference showed a small positive association with math performance. Overall, the school environment is important in shaping the development of the brain functions underlying the monitoring of one own's performance.
儿童在 4 至 7 岁之间表现出明显的执行功能（EF）改善。在许多社会中，这段时间与正式开始学校教育相吻合，在学校教育中，儿童需要在结构化的环境中遵守规则，这主要依赖于 EF 过程，如抑制控制。本研究旨在调查抑制控制的两个方面，即反应抑制和反应监测及其神经相关性的纵向发展。具体而言，我们研究了它们的纵向发展如何因学校教育经验而有所不同，以及它们在预测学业成绩方面的潜在意义。纵向数据是在两组儿童的家中收集的。在 T1 时，所有儿童的年龄大约为 4.5 岁，两组都没有接受过正规学校教育。一年后在 T2，一组（P1，n=40）完成了一整年的学业，而另一组（KG，n=40）则留在幼儿园。使用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）测量了他们对 Go/No-Go 任务的行为和大脑激活数据以及学业成绩。我们发现，与 KG 儿童相比，P1 儿童在双侧额叶与反应监测相关的激活方面随时间的变化更大。左侧额叶激活差异的变化与数学成绩呈正相关。总的来说，学校环境对于塑造监控自身表现的大脑功能的发展非常重要。
